Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, I gained nine years of experience in corporate and investment banking. I was a Financial Analyst Corporate Banking with HSBC in Milan, then joined Citi’s Global Relationship Banking team in Milan and London. Within Citigroup, I moved to SchroderSalomonSmithBarney’s European Investment Banking business, where I worked on equity capital markets transactions for Italian names. I subsequently moved to the Equity Capital Markets desk of JPMorgan, continuing to focus on IPOs, rights issues, and convertible bonds for Italian names.

I earned a cum laude Degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan, I am an Italian Chartered Accountant (Dottore Commercialista and Revisore Ufficiale dei Conti), and I have completed the International Executive Programme at INSEAD.

I am married to Francesca and father of Benedetta (2005), Riccardo Giorgio (2007) and Vittoria Camilla (2016). I was born in Florence and currently live in Milan.

Hi Tomas, i like your thoughts on relationship. May I ask how do you deal with people who don’t like you and you also don’t like but you are compelled to work with? Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Best regards.

Thank you for your comment. How to deal with people who don’t like us is a complicated question which becomes easier to face if we go one step at a time. I would first invite us to ask ourselves about the inner motives that the other person might have. Most often, we would find out that the person who doesn’t like us has more than one reason for this to take place. We need to be able to focus on this. Thus, the next step will be to address the issue, one way or another. Addressing the issue means openly discussing our thoughts with the person. Difficult and demanding as this conversation might be, it would be one of the best investments in our entire life. Clearing the room for a relationship to flourish is a very rewarding experience.

The same happens the other way round. If we are “compelled”, as you say, to work with someone we don’t like, I would recommend to find time to explore our own inner motives for this to happen. Once we can be clearer about what it is that we don’t like in that other person, we might decide to approach the person properly, with a view to clarifying it in the very same way as above. Difficult, challenging and, most importantly, only possible if we work on our own emotional intelligence. However, this is at the same time one of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences that we might possibly live.

Thank you for your insight. Might I follow up with the question, what if the outcome of the meeting resulted to the other person disrespecting you despite your efforts? Is it wise to avoid working with the other party?

You maybe right on wanting to assess the situation carefully. I have been mulling over this potential situation for a while. You see, I sometimes find myself in leadership positions that require having to deal with others and it certainly is difficult to lead if you do not have the confidence. And human as I am, I am sometimes tempted to lash back but then again, anger does not always produce positive results. In my opinion, leaders certainly are at a disadvantage in this area because they always have to consider others before themselves. I appreciate your input. Thanks.